HARARE – Zimbabwe’s power utility ZESA Holdings says it has restored most prepaid electricity purchasing platforms following a system outage that disrupted services nationwide.
The outage, which occurred on Sunday, 22 March 2026, affected all third-party vending channels outside banking halls, leaving thousands unable to buy electricity tokens through mobile money, banking apps, and retail outlets.
Through its distribution arm, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, the utility initially confirmed a complete shutdown of digital vending systems and advised customers to use physical banking halls as a temporary measure.
In its latest update, ZESA says the situation has significantly improved:
“Please be advised that most third-party prepaid vending platforms, including banks and retail Point of Sale systems have been successfully restored. This follows a system interruption experienced on Sunday 22 March 2026, which affected all vending platforms outside ZETDC Banking Halls.”
The utility added that technical teams are now in the final stages of restoring the remaining platforms.
“Technical teams are currently in the final stages of restoring the remaining platforms… We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused during this service interruption and thank you for your continued patience.”
The disruption exposed the country’s heavy reliance on digital payment systems for essential services. For many households, especially in urban areas, the outage temporarily cut off access to electricity due to the prepaid nature of Zimbabwe’s power system.
While restoration is now largely complete, the incident has renewed focus on system resilience and the need for stronger safeguards to prevent future disruptions in critical service delivery.
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